Device for forming drilled needle blanks

Abstract: An apparatus (10) for preparing drilled needle blanks from a spool (12) of coiled stock wire (15) may include a laser (50, 55) for drilling a bore in the end of the stock wire and a cutting device (60) for cutting the drilled wire into needle blanks.

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to processes and apparatus for forming needles. More particularly, this invention relates to processes and apparatus for forming needle blanks useful in forming surgical needles, the needle blanks having one end of the blank drilled for attachment of a suture to the needle. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The production of needles involves many processing steps and different types of machinery to perform each step. The accuracy and repeatability of the various processes become more critical in the preparation of high quality surgical needles from raw stock. Some of the processes involved in the production of surgical grade needles include straightening spooled wire stock, cutting a length of stock wire to form a needle blank, tapering or grinding points on one end of the blank, providing a bore for receiving suture thread at the other end of the blank, flat pressing a portion of the needle barrel to facilitate easier grasping by surgical instrumentation, and curving the needle where curved needles are desired. Normally, each processing step is performed by a different piece of machinery. This requires that the needle blanks be manually transferred from one piece of machinery to another as sequential processing steps are carried out. The transfer step increases the time and manpower necessary for needle production. Generally, there are numerous ways to drill or cut the hole in the end face of a needle blank. For example, the hole may be made by drill machining, electric discharge machining, laser beam machining, electron beam machining and the like. With the advent of microsurgical procedures, surgical sutures have become increasingly smaller in size, thus requiring increased precision in needle production techniques and making it more complex and costly to manufacture the surgical needles. In particular, one aspect of surgical suture manufacturing which has become more difficult and complex for small diameter needles is drilling the hole in the needle blank. The small diameter needle blanks must be presented to the bore-forming device with extreme precision to ensure centrality of the bore formed therein. In addition, as the diameter of the wire decreases, as a general rule so does the length of the needle. Precise handling of short, very fine needle blanks without causing damage to the needle blank is quite difficult to achieve. A common procedure for making a hole in a surgical needle utilizes laser or electron beam machining. In order to utilize these methods in a production environment, techniques have been developed to sequentially present a series of needle blanks to the beam for cutting. One such technique includes presenting the blank needle from a rotary spool which rotates to sequentially prevent an end face of a needle blank in line with the focal plane of the laser or electron beam. However, one drawback to this technique is that the rotating spool must stop before the beam is impinged on the needle. In order to operate properly the spool must come to a reset at precisely the same portion aligned with the focus point of the beam. If the needle in the rotating spool is not precisely aligned with the focus point of the beam, the hole created in the needle blank would be off center, thereby reducing the accuracy of the production process and ultimately resulting in increased defective quantities of needles. Currently, rotary spool systems are unable to obtain the precise positioning required for laser or electron beam machining. This lack of precision is magnified as the speed in which the blank needle is presented increases. As a result, the reliability and accuracy of rotary spool feeding systems is unacceptable in a high volume production environment. Another technique utilized has been to bundle needle blanks in a container, digitize an image of the needle blank faces in the bundle and move the laser or electron beam to focus sequentially on each needle blank before firing the beam. These types of beam machining devices also have drawbacks, such as the need to optically determine where each needle blank is and then move the beam to coincide with the longitudinal axis at the center of the needle blank. Such systems are complex and require additional steps in order to determine the precise position of each needle blank. As a result, the speed of producing sufficient quantities to satisfy production needs is decreased. Therefore, a need exists for an apparatus for producing drilled needle blanks in an accurate and reproducible banner at high speeds. In addition, a need exists for an apparatus for producing drilled needle blanks in a cost effective manner which does not require manual transporting of the needle blanks between different pieces of machinery. EP-A-0530410 discloses taking discrete needle blank lengths and drilling an end face of each such discrete length. US-A-1951841 discloses a rotary shearing machine to shear elongate metal rod stock into sheared sub-lengths. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides in one aspect a method of forming a drilled needle blank, as defined in claim 1 below, and in a second aspect an apparatus for preparing drilled needle blanks, as defined in claim 5 below. The present invention can be embodied in an apparatus for preparing drilled needle blanks from a spool of coiled stock wire. The apparatus includes means for forming a suture attachment portion at a first end of said stock wire and means for cutting said stock wire to a predetermined length to form a drilled needle blank and can include means for straightening the stock wire. The apparatus may also include sensing means for regulating the speed at which the stock wire advances through the apparatus. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features of the present invention will become more readily apparent and may be understood by referring to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a needle blank forming apparatus in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a top view, partially in cross-section, of the needle blank forming apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view along line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view along line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of drilling and cutting stations of a needle blank forming apparatus in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the cutting station of a needle blank forming apparatus in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view along lines 8-8 of Fig. 7; and Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view along lines 9-9 of Fig. 8 after activation of the cutting station. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now in detail to the drawings, in which like reference numerals identify similar or identical elements throughout the several views, Fig. 1 illustrates a needle blank forming apparatus 10 in accordance with the present invention. Stock wire 15 provided on spool 12 passes through a cleaning station 20, a straightening station 30, a sensing station 40, and a cutting station 60. The lead end 16 of the stock wire 15 extends out of cutting station 60 and is presented to a drilling system 50. Two pair of drive mechanisms 70 and 80 advance the stock wire through the needle blank forming apparatus 10. As best seen in Figs. 1 and 2, stock wire 15 is threaded through tensioning means 14. The tensioning means 14 is of a conventional type and maintains a constant tension on stock wire 15 to facilitate smooth passage of the wire through apparatus 10 and to prevent stock wire 15 from unraveling from spool 12. The stock wire is then passed through cleaning station 20. The cleaning station 20 may be of a conventional type and is preferably an ultrasonic cleaner. As seen in Fig. 3, stock wire 15 passes through inlet guide tube 21, around roller 25 and through outlet guide tube 27. Tank 23 of the cleaning station 20 is filled with cleaning solution 26. Guide tubes 21, 27 and roller 25 may be mounted to a removable lid 24 to facilitate loading the stock wire 15 through the cleaning station 20. After exiting from cleaning station 20, stock wire 15 passes to straightening station 30. As shown in Fig. 4, straightening station 30 includes a housing 32 rotatably mounted to a frame 31 and a series of pairs of die elements 35 adjustably mounted to housing 32. The housing may have anywhere from three to twenty or more pairs of die elements mounted therein. A flexible guide tube 34 is adapted to receive the stock wire 15 and extends through the housing 32 between each pair of dies 35. Guide tube 34 may be made of any flexible material such as, for example polytetrafluoroethylene. Die elements 35 engage and flex guide tube 34. A drive motor 38 is operatively connected to housing 32 via belt 37 which passes around pully 36. Drive motor 38 imparts continuous rotational motion to the straightener housing 32 such that guide tube 34 is engaged by one or more pairs of die elements 35 from an infinite number of directions. Preferably, the housing 32 is rotated at a speed in the range 1500 to 4000 rpm. Die elements 35 are disposed on opposed sides of the longitudinal axis defined by straightener housing 32 as shown. Each die element 35 is mounted within a respective mounting channel 33 and may be positioned to intersect the longitudinal axis defined by straightener housing 35 and engage guide tube 34 to alter the path of the guide tube as shown. The interior surface of guide tube 34 defines an arcuate contacting surface which permits the wire advanced therethrough to bend causing the wire stock to assume a generally sinusoidal shape. The individual die elements 35 may be positioned in any desired arrangement. For example, as shown in Fig. 4, the die elements 35a, 35e and 35f may be positioned so as not to deflect the guide tube 34 from the axis defined by housing 32. Die elements 35b may urge the guide tube to one side of the longitudinal axis of the housing 32 while die elements 35c and 35d may urge the guide tube 34 to the other side the longitudinal axis of housing 32. Determining the number of die elements necessary to straighten a wire of a given diameter as well as the necessary positioning of the die elements within the housing are within the purview of those skilled in the art. Drive mechanism 70 draws the stock wire 15 through the straightening station 30. As best seen in Fig. 5, drive mechanism 70 includes driven wheel 72 and idler wheel 74. Motor 71 is operably connected to and continuously drives wheel 72. Wheels 72 and 74 each have a circumferential groove 73 formed therein. Grooves 73 are semi-circular in shape and are precisely machined to match the size of the stock wire 15. Tensioning means 75 urges idler wheel 74 into contact with stock wire 15, which is placed between wheels 72 and 74. The wheels 72, 74 engage stock wire 15 with sufficient frictional force to pull it through straightening station 30. Wheels 72 and 74 are removable, and can be replaced with similar pairs of wheels, each pair having grooves precisely machined to accommodate a different size wire. The speed at which motor 71 drives wheel 72 is electronically controlled in response to signals generated by the sensing station 40 as described below. Generally, however, motor 71 will cause stock wire 15 to advance at a rate of from about 10 mm/sec to about 16mm/sec. After passing through drive mechanism 70, stock wire 15 passes through sensing station 40 which monitors the position of stock wire 15 and regulates the speed at which drive mechanism 70 operates. Sensing station 40 includes a dancing arm 42 which is pivotally mounted to support wall 11 at point 41 and has a roller 44 mounted thereon. Stock wire 15 is placed below and supports roller 44. Arm 42 is free moving, and will move due to the action of gravity or the motion of stock wire 15. Thus, dancing arm 42 will be lowered by slackening of stock wire 15 and will be raised as stock wire 15 becomes taut. Sensors 45, 46, 47 and 48 are provided to monitor the position of dancing arm 42. When sensor 46 detects the presence of dancing arm 42 indicating that stock wire 15 has become too slack, sensor 46 electronically signals drive mechanism 70 and the speed at which motor 71 operates is decreased to reduce the slack in stock wire 15. Similarly, when sensor 47 detects the presence of dancing arm 42 indicating that stock wire 15 has become too taut, sensor 47 electronically signals drive mechanism 70 and the speed at which motor 71 operates is increased to create more slack in on stock wire 15. Sensors 45 and 48 operate to shut down the apparatus 10 in the event sensors 46 and 47 fail to adequately control the position of dancing arm 42. After leaving sensor station 40, stock wire 15 is then engaged by drive mechanism 80 which controls the position of the stock wire 15 as it passes through cutting station 60. The structure and operation of drive mechanism 80 is the same as that of drive mechanism 70 described above with the exception that drive wheel 82 is operatively connected to a stepper motor 85 rather than to a continuous drive motor. Stepper motor 85 advances the stock wire 15 to a first, drilling position and to a second, cutting position. The actual distance that the stepper motor will move the stock wire to achieve the drilling and cutting position may be the same or different and will depend upon the desired final length of the needle blank. From drive mechanism 80, the stock wire 15 enters cutting station 60. As best seen in Figs. 7-9, the cutting station 60 includes a stationary housing 61 and a moveable housing 62. Stationary die 64 is received and removably mounted within stationary housing 61 and moveable die 66 is received and removably mounted within moveable housing 62. Each die 64, 66 includes a carbide insert, 65, 67, respectively. Stationary die 66 also includes a bushing 68. A rigid guide tube 69 passes through bushing 68 and guides stock wire 15 to the central bore of insert 67. The rigid guide tube 69 is preferably hypodermic tubing made from stainless steel. A central bore is formed in each insert 65, 67 and is configurated and dimensioned to receive stock wire 15 with the minimal amount of clearance that will allow stock wire 15 to slide through. The clearance between the central bores in inserts 65, 67 and stock wire 15 is preferably no more than 25 µm (0.0010 inches), most preferably between 7.6 and 15 µm (0.0003 and 0.0006 inches) clearance over the diameter of stock wire 15. In order to form needle blanks of other diameters, interchangeable matching pairs of fixed and moveable dies may be provided which have longitudinal bores formed therein with diameters corresponding to those of the other diameter wires to be formed into needle blanks. In order to assure that the longitudinal bore of movable die 66 is aligned with that of fixed die 64, adjusting screws 84 are provided on to raise or lower the stationary die. Movement of the moveable die 66 is provided by lever arm 87. One end of lever arm 87 contacts moveable housing 62. Bearing 89 provided on lever arm 87, contacts a Teflon insert 63 in moveable housing 62 to allow removal of moveable housing 62 by sliding it out from under the lever arm 87. The other end of lever arm 87 contacts the piston 88 of an electromechanical device. As piston 88 moves upward, lever arm 87 pivots on support wall 13 causing downward movement of movable housing 62, thereby shearing stock wire 15 between movable die 66 and stationary die 64. Moveable housing 62 is returned to its original position by spring 88. The force applied by spring 88 may be adjusted via knob 86. Drilling system 50 provides means for forming a bore in the stock wire 15 prior to activation of the cutting station 60. The forming means may comprise any of the known types of bore-forming devices such as drill machinery, electric discharge machining devices and electron beam machinery devices. Preferably, however, a laser is used to form the bore in stock wire 15. The laser may be of any type which provides a sufficiently narrow laser beam of sufficient energy to achieve drilling of the needle material. Suitable lasers are known to those skilled in the art. The laser is aligned such that the beam 55 travels along a line defined by the longitudinal axis of the central bore in moveable die 66. This assures that when fired, the laser beam strikes the stock wire 15 at the center thereof. Control means coordinates the activation of drive mechanism 80, the laser and cutting station 60 such that the stock wire is drilled prior to being cut into needle blanks. While the various operations may be activated by manual control means, preferably the operations of apparatus 10 are controlled by a programmable control system (not shown) of a known type. A particularly useful sequence of operation which may be employed to form drilled needle blanks involves four steps. First, the stepper motor 85 of drive mechanism 80 advances the stock wire 15 a predetermined distance to the drilling position. When in the drilling position, the lead end 16 of stock wire 15 should extend out of the carbide insert 67 of moveable die 66, so that the laser does not affect the carbide insert. The lead end of the stock wire should not, however extend out an amount sufficient to affect the centrality of the bore. Next, the laser is fired to form a bore in the lead end 16 stock wire 15. Then, the stepper motor 85 of drive mechanism 80 is again activated to advance stock wire 15 a predetermined distance to the cutting position. Finally, the cutting station 60 is activated to provide a drilled needle blank 115 of a desired length. When the cycle is repeated, the first step not only advances the stock wire to the proper drilling position, but also ejects the needle blank 115 formed in the previous cycle. Once ejected, the needle blank can be received by a collecting means. The collecting means may simply be a box for collecting the ejected needle blanks. Alternatively, as best seen in Figs. 1 and 6, the collecting means includes a vacuum tube 102 having a receiving portion 105 which catches the needle blanks as they are ejected. Tube 102 is connected to a vacuum source (not shown). When a needle blank falls into receiving portion 105 it is sucked into tube 102 to remove it from the area of the cutting and drilling stations. The needle blank may be deposited into receptable means such as a container or hopper (not shown) for storage or transport. The apparatus of this invention can be adapted to prepare drilled needle blanks from any coiled stock material of any diameter. Preferably, the device is employed to prepare drilled needle blanks from stock wire having a diameter of 0.4 mm (0.017 inches) or less.

Claims: A method of forming a drilled needle blank for a surgical suture-needle combination, the method comprising the steps of: advancing continuous stock wire (15) into a drilling station (60); forming a suture attachment portion within the leading end face of said stock wire; and thereafter cutting said stock wire behind said leading end face to a predetermined length to form said needle blank. A method according to claim 1, including the step of applying electromagnetic energy to said end face of said stock wire to form said suture attachment portion. A method according to claim 2, wherein said electromagnetic energy is laser energy, delivered in a beam which is on the longitudinal axis of said stock wire. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, further comprising the step (30) of straightening the stock wire prior to said forming step. An apparatus for preparing drilled needle blanks for surgical suture-needle combinations, the apparatus comprising: a drilling station (60), means (80) for advancing a continuous stock wire (15) into the drilling station; an insert (67) with a bore having an upstream end, and downstream end at the drilling station; drilling means (50) for forming a suture attachment portion within the leading end face of the stock wire (15) as it emerges from the downstream end of the insert bore; and means (64, 66, 88) for cutting the drilled stock wire (15) at a point which is a predetermined length behind the leading end face of the stock wire, after said face has been drilled, to form a drilled needle blank. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 further comprising means (30) for straightening the stock wire. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein said drilling means comprises a laser (50). An apparatus as claimed in claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein said cutting means comprises: a stationary die (64) having a longitudinal bore (65) therein for receiving the stock wire; a movable die (66) having a longitudinal bore (67) therein for receiving the stock wire; means (88) for moving said movable die relative to said stationary die whereby stock wire within said longitudinal bores is sheared. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the movable die (66) includes the said insert (67) and the stationary die (64) is adjacent the upstream end of the said insert bore. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the means for moving the movable die comprises an electromechanical piston (88) device. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein the advancing means comprise: a first wheel (72) having a circumferential groove formed therein; a second wheel (74) having a circumferential groove (73) formed therein, said first and second wheels being positioned adjacent one another such that said grooves form a generally circular opening between said wheels; means (75) for urging said second wheel against said first wheel such that stock wire placed between said wheels is frictionally engaged by said wheels; and drive means (71) for rotating said first wheel. An apparatus as claimed in claim 11 further comprising sensing means (40) for monitoring the advance of the stock wire (15) and adjusting the rate of advance of said drive means. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 12, and comprising: means for mounting a supply reel (12) of stock wire; cleaning means (20) for removing foreign matter from the stock wire; straightening means (30) for removing any curvature from the cleaned stock wire; first transport means (72) for continuously moving the stock wire through said straightening means; and second transport means (80) for incrementally advancing the cleaned, straightened stock wire (85) to the drilling station. An apparatus in claim 13 as dependent on claim 12, wherein the sensing means (40) is positioned between said first and second transport means.

Inventors: SPINGLER ROLF A, SPINGLER, ROLF A.
Applicants: UNITED STATES SURGICAL CORP, UNITED STATES SURGICAL CORPORATION
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B21G1
IPC codes: B21G1, B21F1, A61B17